Mounting and contact member



Jan. 13, 1959 w. J.- ENGEL 2,869,107

MOUNTING AND CONTACT MEMBER Filed Oct. 29, 1956 I Jrzyezzfoz Zflz'llz'am JEzggeZ 0Q 1 50 rrz eg United States Patent MOUNTING AND CONTACT MEMBER William J. Engel, Chicago, IlL, assignor to Cinch Manufacturing Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application October 2 9, 1956, Serial No. 613,753

1 Claim. (Cl. 339-220) This invention relates to a mounting and contact member particularly suited for use with printed wire circuits. .lvlore especially, the invention is concerned with a mountlng and contact member constructed so as to provide a mechanical mounting for and an electrical connection with a circuit component such as a selenium rectifier, and which is in turn mechanically secured to a printed wire board or panel and electrically connected with certain of the printed wires thereof.

There is a general need for a mounting and contact member constructed and arranged to provide quick and easy mounting thereof on a printed wire board, and also quick and easy mounting of a circuit component therein, while at the same time providing a good electrical connection between the circuit component and a printed wire on the board. Providing such a member is one of the objects of this invention.

Another object of the invention is in the provision of a mounting and contact member of the type described that accommodates variations in thickness in a printed wire board or panel and that are necessarily present therein because of the low tolerances permitted in the board manufacture. Still another object is in the construction and design of a mounting and contact member that also accommodates physical variations in the circuit components mounted thereby.

A further object of the invention is that of providing a mounting and contact member having a body defining a socket therein and which is equipped with laterally extending legs formed with offset tabs adapted toextend through openings therefor in a printed wire board the tabs being twistable after extension through a board to anchor the member thereon, and the legs being movable toward the board at the tab-equipped ends thereof and with respect to the body of the contact member so as to accommodate by such movement variations in board thickness, and yet provide a firm, rigid coupling between the board and contact member. Yet another object is in the provision of a mounting and contact member as described above, in which the tabs are equipped with sheared ears that deform into tight frictional engagement with the board as the tabs are twisted.

Yet a further object is to provide in combination with aprinted wire panel or board, a pair of mounting or contact members each anchored to the board and in electrical contact with certain of the wires thereof, and which define enlarged sockets adapted to receive the mounting terminals or tongues of a circuit component therein, the sockets being enlarged so as to permit shifting in one direction of such tongues therein and being positioned at right angles with respect to each other so that mechanical or physical variations in the construction of a circuit component can be accommodated Without difiiculty by the contact members. Additional objects and advantages will become evident as the specification develops.

I An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in whicht Figure 1 is a side view in elevation of a pair of mount- "ice ing and contact members mounted upon a printed wire board, the board being shown in section, and with a circuit component mounted on the board thereby; Figure 2 is an end view in elevation of the structure illustrated in Figure 1 with the printed wire board again being shown in section; Figure 3 is a broken bottom plan view of the structures illustrated in Figures 1 and 2; Figure 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a mounting and contact member embodying the invention; Figure 5 is an enlarged end view in elevation showing the first step in securing one of the members in position on a printed wire board; Figure 6 is an enlarged end view in elevation of the member similar to that of Figure 5, but showing the tabs thereof twisted to secure the member in position; Figure 7 is a transverse sectional viewjof a twisted tab taken along the line 7,7 of Figure 6; Figure 8 is a broken vertical sectional view of a member as shown in Figure 6, but with the mounting terminal or tongue of a circuit component inserted in the socket thereof; and Figure 9 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 9-9 of Figure 8.

t The printed wire board or panel illustrated in the drawing is designated with the numeral 10, and that board may be completely conventional and is provided at least on one side thereof with a plurality of printed wires 11. As is Well known, the boardor panel 10 will be formed of an insulating material and the printed wires may be formed thereon by any of the standard techniques. Since all of these are well known in the art and per se form no part of the invention, no further description thereof need be set forth.

Positioned on the board 10 are a pair of mounting and contact members 12 and 13 that are identical; and in the detailed description thereof which will follow, only one of these members will be considered but since they are identical, it will be understood that the detailed description of one will apply equally to the other. Secured in position relative to the board 10 by the members 12 and 13 is a circuit component 14 that in the specific illustration is a elenium rectifier. The component: 14 is equipped with a pair of depending mounting terminals or tongues 15 and 16, the first of which is twisted upon itself so as to lie in a plane substantially normal to that of the tongue 16. The reason for this is that the contact members 12 and 13 lie in planes normal to each other, as is apparent from Figures 1 and 2, the purpose of which will be brought out in greater detail hereinafter.

The mounting and contact member 12 comprises a socket body 17 defined by upwardly extending end walls 18 and 19, a rear wall 29 and a front wall having two sections 21a and 21b. These walls define a socket 22 that receives the mounting terminal or tongue 15 of the circuit component therein. As is most apparent from Figures 4 and 8, the front wall sections are each formed adjacent the inner meeting edges thereof with spring gripper members 23a and 23b, respectively, that project into the socket 22 and are adapted to frictionally grip the mounting tongue of a circuit component inserted therein so as to form a good mechanical and electrical connection therewith. The rear Wall 20 is formed with a dimple or projection 24 that also extends into the socket 22 and is adapted to be received within an elongated slot or opening 25 formed in the mounting tongue of the circuit component. It will be apparent that the mounting tongue snaps into position within the socket 22 when it is pushed past the dimple 24 and resilient grippers 23a and 23b.

The socket body 17 is provided with a pair of laterally extending legs 26 and 27, the first of which extends outwardly from the rear wall 20 and the latter of which extends outwardly from the front wall section 23a. As is most clear from Figures 5, 6 and 8, the legs 26 and 2 7 are spaced slightly above the lower edge of the body 17 so that when that lower edge of the body is against the upper surface of the board 10, the legs are spaced slightly above the board. The board is provided with openings or slots 28 and 29 that receive, respectively, the depending tabs 30 and 31 with which the legs 26 and 27 are equipped at their outer ends.

The tabs are each formed with inverted, generally L-shaped slits or lines of severance 32 and 33 that form sheared ears 34 and 35 along the sides of thetabs. As is shownbest'in Figures 6 and 8, when the tabs are inserted through the openings in the printed wire-board and are twisted, the ears are deformed and bite into the undersurface of the boardto draw the legsdownwardly and afiix the contact member in place. Electrical connection with the mounting and contact members 12*. and 13-is accomplished after those members are mechanically secured to the board by solder globules 36 which surround the tabs Mind 31 and connect with the enlarged terminii of the printed wires 11, as is seen most clearly in Figure 3. If desired, the forward wall portions 23a and 23b of the socket body may have cut-out areas 37:; and 37b formed therein adjacent the inwardly extending spring grippers 23a and 23b, respectively.

The mounting and contact members are quickly and easily secured in position on a printed wire board or panel by simply inserting the depending tabs 30 and 31 through openings provided therefor in the board, and by then. twisting those tabs to deform the ears to draw the legs 26 and 27 and thereby the body of the contact member tightly against the board. The legs 26 and 27 are automatically swung downwardly to the extent. necessary to pull them into engagement with the board when the tabs are twisted. If a board 10 is relatively thick, such thickness is accommodated by greater deformation of the ears as the tabs are twisted. On the other hand, if the board is relatively thin, the ears are not deformed to such a great extent when the tabs are twisted. In either event, the legs are drawn tightly against the board. Ordinarily, the tabs and the severed ears thereof will be dimensioned with respect to the board 10, as shown in Figure 5, wherein the*ears at their upper ends extend into the openings in the printed wire board, whereby in all cases some deformation of the ears is assured when the tabs are twisted.

The socket 22 defined by each of the mounting and contact members is slightly wider than the mounting tongues provided by the circuit component or selenium rectifier 14, as shown most clearly in Figure 9. Thus, some lateral shifting of the contact tongue ispermitted within the socket 22, and irrespective of the particular position of the contact tongue within the socket, it is firmly held therein by the frictional engagement therewith of the spring or gripper members 23a and 23b. If the contact tongues are centered in the socket, the dimples 24 extend into the tongue slots 25. If the contact tongues are shifted laterally, the dimples frictionally-engage the same laterally of the slots 25.

' As brought out before, the contact members 12 and 13 are oriented at right angles with respect to each other. With this arrangement, the circuit component 14 may have a longitudinal and/or transverse dimensional variation and will nevertheless be readily accommodated by the contact members, for one will. permit. variation in the longitudinal dimension while the other permits variation in the transverse dimension. The circuit component is secured in position simply by pushing the mounting tongues thereof into the sockets 22, and it may be removed in a corresponding. Withdrawal operation. When in position, a good electrical as well as mechanical connection is afforded with the contact members. Such electrical connection is carried. through the. contact member and to the printed wires 11. by the solder globules 36.

If reference is made to Figure 8, it will be seen that when the circuit component 14 is mounted, no strain is placed on the legs and tabs of the contact and mounting members or on the solder connections with the printed wires, for the only force applied to'the mounting and contact members is a downward force transferred directly through the walls ofthesccket body to the board 10.

Also, the swingability of the legs in accommodating'variatio-ns in board thickness permits this result without excessively stressing the ears 34 and 35 when the tabs are twisted.

Whilein the foregoing specification anembodiment of the invention has been described in considerable detail for purposes of making an adequate disclosure thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous changes may be madein those details without departing from the spiritzand scope of the invention.

I claim:

In a structure of the character described, a printed wire board having a first pair of substantially parallel openings therethrough and a second pair of substantially parallel openings therethrough, a first and a' second mounting and contact member, each of said contact members having a socket-body comprising'endand side walls defining a socket adapted to receive'the mounting tongue of a socket component therein, said socket body abutting said'board and'havinga substantially greater dimensional width than that of such a mounting tongue to afford selective positioning of the tongue therein, gripper mem- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 2,581,967 Mitchell Jan. 8','1'952 2,701,350 Soreng Feb. 1, 1955 2,747,169 Johanson' May 22, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 544,080 Great Britain Mar. 26, 1942 

